EDMONTON — They’re into Phase 2 of the new coach now in Edmonton. The new-car smell has worn off. So when Ken Hitchcock goes off for two days on the state of officiating around his team, it doesn’t result in three power-play goals like it might have 10 days ago. Instead, Edmonton squandered all five power plays it received in the opening 40 minutes Tuesday against St. Louis, and lost a game 4-1 to a team everyone else is beating. Yes, everything isn’t coming up roses for Hitch and his childhood team anymore, further illustrated by one of the stranger video review goals you’ll see in the third period. That… Read More

VANCOUVER — Nikita Kucherov scored and added an assist to earn his 50th point of the season to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. A feisty Canucks squad kept pace with the Lightning in a heated game marked with a flurry of fights, but they couldn’t over power the NHL’s No. 1 team. Tampa Bay has not lost in regulation since Nov. 27. Cedric Paquette, Adam Erne, Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat also scored for the Lightning (26-7-2). Tyler Motte and Chris Tanev put up goals for the Canucks (16-17-4). Anders Nilsson stopped 34-of-38 shots for Vancouver and Andrei Vasilevskiy made… Read More

The Vancouver Canucks and Tampa Bay Lightning engaged in a spirited contest Tuesday night and not everyone came out unscathed. Troy Stecher was on the receiving end of a high hit from Lightning winger Danick Martel late in the second period and the Canucks defenceman was unable to return to the game. As you can see in the video at the top of the page, Martel appears to make contact with Stecher’s head on a blindside hit near the Tampa Bay blue line. Stecher was shaken up, immediately went to the locker room and was ruled out by his team. Martel was assessed two minutes for interference on the play.… Read More